Policing Archives - Page 14 of 18

Desmond’s dad: State probing police killing AG Xavier Becerra overseeing Chico case ‘personally’

by Dave Waddell

A state Department of Justice investigation has been launched into the Chico police killing of Desmond Phillips, a mentally ill young black man gunned down in his living room last March, Phillips’ father claimed at a news conference Monday.

Neither state Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s press office nor Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey responded immediately to requests from ChicoSol for comment on David Phillips’ claim. read more

DA: Deputy killed armed man in self-defense Sniper Calkins was almost 130 yards away from Jensen

by Dave Waddell

A Butte County sheriff’s sniper was nearly 130 yards away from a drunken, pistol-waving Mark Jensen when the officer shot him dead with a rifle Aug. 17 in the roadway in front of his Durham residence.

The distance between the two men was about the same as from the back of one end zone to the back of the other end zone on a football field. read more

Desmond’s dad: Meeting set with AG Civil rights attorney reached out to Xavier Becerra

by Dave Waddell

A prominent lawyer representing the family of Desmond Phillips, a mentally ill young black man killed March 17 by Chico police, has arranged a face-to-face meeting with state Attorney General Xavier Becerra to discuss the shooting, according to David Phillips, Desmond’s father.

The meeting will be held Nov. 9 at the AG’s office in San Francisco and include David Phillips and his attorney, John L. Burris of Oakland, Phillips said. read more

Student activist’s grisly killing still unsolved Marc Thompson’s dad: Son was ‘destined for greatness’

We will never be the same because of you,
We will never be the same without you,
You will be remembered.
–From a poem by film director Lee Mun Wah in remembrance of Marc Anthony Thompson

by Dave Waddell

Marc Thompson had a big smile – broad and gap-toothed — and an even bigger personality. He made a mark on people, “like a blazing star across the midnight sky,” in the words of activist Lee Mun Wah, one of Thompson’s mentors. And he had dedicated his young life to fighting against a litany of social injustices. read more

DA: No crime by shooters in Rushing death Peaceful Ventura man behaved bizarrely in Chico

by Dave Waddell and Leslie Layton

Tyler Rushing, who died during a chaotic confrontation in close quarters with Chico police, most likely succumbed to an earlier “devastating gunshot” wound from a private security guard responding to a burglary.

That’s the conclusion of Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey in a 17-page report made available to ChicoSol and other news media prior to a press briefing by Ramsey this morning. read more

Parents plead for police restraint "Bullets are not the answer," says Tyler Rushing's father

by Dave Waddell

Scott Rushing stood Sunday across Main Street from the title company building in which his son, Tyler, was shot to death July 23 by Chico police.

“I guess you could call it his mausoleum,” said Rushing, before conducting a moment of silence in memory of his only son and other victims of law enforcement killings in Butte County. Rushing said he found it “particularly abhorrent” that his son’s body was Tased and handcuffed after the fatal shooting. read more

Four confirmed deaths of unhoused residents this year

ChicoSol has confirmed the following deaths, all taking place on streets or in encampments in 2024:

River Chase Bernreuter, 25. His body was found Feb. 2 on Business Lane.

Kenneth James Corbitt, 44, whose body was found Feb. 5 on Fair Street.

Francisco Franco, 61, of Chico. His body was found Feb. 15 on Business Lane.

Julie Bergstrom, 41, of Oroville. Bergstrom was found dead Feb. 29 at the Alternate Site encampment approved by the City for unhoused individuals.

City attorney: “Public take over” was an emergency

In a Jan. 17 email to ChicoSol, City Attorney John Lam said the City was not in violation of the Brown Act when it held a Jan. 6 emergency meeting.

Lam said the use of City property near The Hands sculpture in back of the Municipal Center by the nonprofit Safe Space the previous day had amounted to a “public take over.”

Safe Space, which operates an emergency winter sheltering program, ran intake in the space from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 5, an operation that it says proceeded smoothly. The group’s leadership said it believed that it was using public property as defined in the City code, and wasn’t required to get special permission.